Journey into the Sounds of Puerto Rico at The Museum of Music

While exploring Puerto Rico you will no doubt be impressed by the various musical instruments and music genres that are present. If you are keen to learn more about Puerto Rican music, you should definitely make and effort to visit the Museum of Puerto Rican Music (Museo de la Musica Puertoriquena) where you will be given an overview of the musical history of the island, from its start to its modern day reality. You will be able to explore these roots through a wide collection of memorabilia on display at the museum. The musical instruments and memorabilia come from well-known Puerto Rican musicians who are of Indian, Spanish or African descent and it is quite interesting to see how different the instruments are from each of these cultures.

You will definitely notice the Museo de la Musica Puertoriquena with its light pink coloring. The museum is so cleverly laid-out that no matter how interested or knowledgeable you are on about this type of music, you will definitely enjoy your visit. The pink villa was built by a very well known architect, named Calderoni, and you can see many of his buildings throughout Puerto Rico. One thing you must appreciate after you have taken the time to familiarize yourself with the origin of music in the country is the actual value of the unique Puerto Rican music. This distinctive music is often exported to other islands in the Caribbean. It is also widely played and enjoyed throughout the United States.

The displays are in both English and Spanish and they show how Puerto Rican music started and how it has developed over the years. You will also get to view the different musical instruments that have been brought over from India, Spain and Africa. These musical instruments were often used to play romantic danza, a popular form of music played and listened to in Puerto Rico. They may have also been used to play bomba and plena music. These music types are more African in nature than other forms of Puerto Rican music. With each display you will also be able to view information about specific artists who became famous for their musical masterpieces and so gain a little more insight into their private lives. Some of the instruments that you will view at the museum are the güicharo or guiro, which is a gourd that has been hollowed out, and variants of the original six-string Spanish guitar like the requinto and bordonua.